By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Consumer inflation jumped to over 2-year high of 13.76 percent in May fuelled by rising energy and food rates as high prices of imported fuels compounds the impact of the rupee’s plunge this year, , official data showed
In April 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was at 13.37 percent, whereas in May 2021, it was recorded at 10.9 percent, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data showed.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 0.44 percent in May 2022 compared to an increase of 1.6 percent in the previous month and an increase of 0.1 percent in May 2021. In January 2020, CPI was at 14.6 percent, and since then, the latest figure was the highest.
Food prices surged 17.3 percent, while transport costs surged 31.8 percent, the data showed.
High global commodity prices and rising imports continue to fuel Asia’s second fastest inflation. The nation’s central bank has already raised interest rates by 675 basis points to check rising prices.
Consumer-price gains are likely to pick up further after the government raised fuel prices late last month as part of efforts to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund to revive a stalled aid program. Pakistan is looking to secure an agreement with the lender to access the remaining $3 billion of an existing loan to avert a default. The country needs about $36 billion in financing for the fiscal year starting July.
Other steps, including electricity and power tariff hikes, risk further stoking headline inflation.
For the last seven months, inflation has remained in double-digits, with July-May 2021/22 average inflation increasing to 11.3 percent.
CPI is a basket of goods that tracks retail prices of 374 items in 35 major cities.
Food and beverages that have over one-third (34.58 percent) share in the basket and utility charges (housing, water, electricity, and fuel) near one-fourth (or 23.63 percent) became significantly expensive during May. Clothing and footwear and transportation charges also increased sharply.
Urban inflation increased 12.4 percent yearly in May 2022 compared to 12.2 percent in April and 10.8 percent in May 2021.
Similarly, rural CPI inflation increased by 15.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in May 2022 compared to 15.1 percent in the previous month and 10.9 percent in May 2021. Over the last month, urban and rural inflation both increased 1.6 percent.
Urban core CPI (excluding the food and energy components) increased by 9.7 percent YoY in May 2022 against 8.1 percent in the previous month and 6.8 percent a year ago. Likewise, rural core-CPI increased 11.5 percent YoY in May 2022 compared to 10.9 percent in the last month and 7.6 percent in May 2021.
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